{"id":32574,"date":"2018-12-30T19:09:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T19:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/30\/syrias-assad-authorizes-iraqi-forces-to-strike-isis-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:39:29","slug":"syrias-assad-authorizes-iraqi-forces-to-strike-isis-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/12\/30\/syrias-assad-authorizes-iraqi-forces-to-strike-isis-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria\u2019s Assad authorizes Iraqi forces to strike ISIS in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DAMASCUS, Syria \u2014 Syrian President Bashar Assad authorized Iraqi forces on Sunday to attack the Islamic State group inside Syria without waiting for permission from authorities in Damascus, the state news agency SANA said, as the two allies coordinate their fight against extremists ahead of a planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement highlights the close relations between the two neighboring Arab countries that are both allied with Iran. ISIS once controlled large parts of both countries when it declared a caliphate in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iraqi warplanes and artillery have in the past pounded ISIS positions inside Syria after getting the green light from Syrian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extremists have been defeated in Iraq but still hold a small area in Syria close to the Iraqi border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This file image made from undated video released by Iraq’s Ministry of Defense on July 2, 2016, shows aerial images of purported air strikes on an Islamic State group convoy and militants, near Fallujah, Iraq. Syria\u2019s state news agency said Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018 that President Bashar Assad has authorized Iraqi forces to attack the Islamic State group inside Syria without waiting for permission from authorities in Damascus. (Iraqi Ministry of Defense via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday Assad received a letter from Iraq’s Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi calling for both countries’ coordination in “fighting terrorism.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that the U.S. will withdraw all of its 2,000 forces in Syria<\/a>. The main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has expressed concerns that the U.S. plans to pull out could lead to the revival of ISIS, saying that the extremists have not been defeated yet in Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Washington, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he is going to encourage Trump to sit down with generals and reconsider pulling troops from Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSlow this down, make sure that we get it right, make sure ISIS never comes back,\u201d Graham said on CNN using a different acronym to refer to ISIS. \u201cDon\u2019t turn Syria over to the Iranians. That\u2019s a nightmare for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham said that it’s possible for the U.S. to reduce its footprint in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and that he supports the goal of having allies “do more and pay more.” But he added that he also sees the U.S. military playing a role in all three countries for “a while to come.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I want to fight the war in the enemy’s backyard, not ours,” Graham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t